WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Joyce Rose, staff director for the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will become President and CEO of Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI), on December 3, 2012, OLI Board Chair Reilly McCarren announced today.

"Joyce's expertise in railroad, transit, highway and safety policy will be a tremendous asset to Operation Lifesaver as we continue our work educating drivers and pedestrians about safety around tracks and trains," McCarren said.

Rose is a veteran Congressional staffer with over 20 years of experience in transportation policy. She became staff director for the Railroads Subcommittee in 2008, after serving as a professional staff member on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

As staff director, Rose drafted, negotiated, and helped secure passage of MAP-21, the surface transportation authorization bill covering fiscal years 2013 and 2014. She also worked on the passage of Amtrak authorization and Rail Safety bills in 2008, and helped draft the transit provisions of the 2005 surface transportation authorization bill, SAFETEA-LU. In 2009, she was named one of "10 Staffers to Know" in transportation by Roll Call.

Before joining the House T&I Committee staff, Rose worked for the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations from 1988 to 2001 as the professional staffer responsible for Federal transit and rail funding issues, pipelines and hazardous materials, and transportation research.

Helen M. Sramek, Operation Lifesaver's President since January, 2007, who had earlier announced her plans to retire, said, "Under Joyce's leadership, Operation Lifesaver will continue to be a prominent force in rail safety education."

About Operation Lifesaver - Operation Lifesaver, Inc. is a national, non-profit safety education group whose goal is to eliminate deaths and injuries at railroad crossings and along railroad rights of way. Operation Lifesaver has programs in all 50 states, with trained volunteers who provide free safety talks to community groups, school bus drivers, truck drivers and student drivers to raise awareness of the dangers around railroad tracks and trains. For more information, or to request a free safety presentation, visit www.oli.org, or follow OLI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/operation.lifesaver, Twitter: @olinational, and Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/olinational/.